Despite having read praise for his adaptation of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None,I've somehow found the chance to see a title from René Clair to always escape me.Talking to a DVD seller,I found out that they had recently gotten hold of a fantasy movie by Clair,which led to me getting ready to meet the beauties of the night.

View on the film:

Believing that "sound" undermined the style which had developed in Silent Cinema,the screenplay by co-writer/(along with Pierre Barillet/Jean-Pierre Grédy & Gian Luigi Rondi) director René Clair delivers sly,satirical shots with this belief,by blocking Claude from being able to express himself,as loud "modern day" sounds drown out Claude's attempts to make his voice heard.

Jumping from real life to the dream world,the writers thread a dazzling patchwork,that hops from wild flight of Fantasy to hilarious mad-cap Comedy-with added catchy songs,in a manner which makes Claude's world a joy to enter.

Blending the real and surreal together,director Clair & cinematographer Armand Thirard weave spectacular "in camera" spells making Claude go from a dusty pub to taking on cavemen (!) appear as ultra-stylish, continuous shots.

Bringing Claude's desires to vivid life, Clair makes Claude's dream girls look ravishingly beautiful,via smooth circling tracking shots making them each stand out of the desert of Claude's dream.

Meeting Claude in both worlds,the elegant Magali Vendeuil gives a superb performance as Suzanne,whose caring side Vendeuil brings out as Suzanne tries to channel Claude's imagination into reality.

Joyfully entering every lightning fast dream spot, Gérard Philipe gives an excellent performance as Claude,via Philipe hitting everything with an irresistible wide smile,as Claude discovers the beauties of the night.

I'm so happy I was able to find this extremely obscure movie; it's adorable! If you've never seen the Woody Allen gem Midnight in Paris, don't keep reading my review of Beauties of the Night, since I'm going to spoil the surprise of that modern comedy.

You've probably never heard of this one, but if you're in the mood for something light and funny, or if you're suffering from insomnia, you'll really appreciate it. It's a comedy about a young composer, Gérard Philipe, who lives above a garage in a small town. All he wants to do is sleep, but the noises of the town and townspeople keep him awake. When he's finally able to doze off, he gets transported into an interesting, engaging dream. By day, he's an unknown, unimportant musician, but in his dreams, he's a revered opera composer who can get any woman he wants. Now here comes the spoiler alert, so if you haven't seen Midnight in Paris, I'm giving you one last chance to stop reading: In Gérard's dream, he talks with an older gentleman who says a paraphrase of, "Things were better in my day!" Instantly, Gérard finds himself in a different time period, hairstyle, and costume. This continues in dream after dream, until eventually Gérard winds up walking around with dinosaurs!

This movie is hilarious. It's stylized and funky, and of course it's over-the-top. That's the point! If you've gone without sleep, you're going to dream up some ridiculous things. If you're a composer consumed with a wish for your music to become famous, of course people in your dreams are going to start randomly singing. If it sounds cute to you, you'll like it. I have no idea if Woody Allen ever saw this obscure movie and wanted to tweak the storyline to change a composer into a writer and add in a bunch of artistic icons, but if he did, he owes a lot to writer-director Réne Clair. Ladies in particular will like this cute comedy, since the leading actor is so gorgeous and energetic. He didn't make many movies in his brief career, so treasure him while you can.

Beautiful, dreamy, magical, funny romp through the ages of French history, though the ending is predictable. *** out of 4.